American mythology teaches that the early United States was founded by men of
conscience who came to the "new world" in order to practice their religious
convictions in peace and freedom.
John Winthrop (1588–1649), the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony,
in particular has been quoted as a source of inspiration by U.S. presidents from
John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan.

Yet Winthrop did not represent a tradition of either democracy or
religious tolerance. He hated democracy with a passion. The state
he created did not hesitate to execute people like the Quakers and even brought
to the "new" world the very popular tradition of medieval Europe, the trial and
execution of witches.

The quotes from Winthrop below illustrate the troubling nature of Puritan
society in Colonial America. John Winthrop's "shining" city had more in common
with the various totalitarian utopias in history than with the spirit of the
Bill of Rights passed more than 100 years after his death. This a useful fact
to keep in mind when considering the various current proposals get "get America
back the traditional values of the Puritans".

Thomas Jefferson's views of the Puritan faith listed below are particularly
illuminating. For more on what Jefferson had to say about Christianity and
politics click
here.

Note: Some of the language in
the quotes has been modernized for readability.

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This most famous of Jesus' sermons is the source of Winthrop's inspiration
for his now famous "city upon a hill" statement.

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do
men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light
to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your
good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

"If we should change from a mixed aristocracy to mere democracy, first we
should have no warrant in scripture for it: for there was no such government in
Israel ... A democracy is, amongst civil nations, accounted the meanest and
worst of all forms of government. [To allow it would be] a manifest
breach of the 5th Commandment."

"Now the only way to avoid this shipwreck and to provide for our posterity is
to follow the Counsel of Micah, to do Justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with
our God, for this end, we must be knit together in this work as one man, we must
entertain each other in brotherly Affection, we must be willing to abridge
ourselves of our superfluities, for the supply of others' necessities, we must
uphold a familiar Commerce together in all meekness, gentleness, patience and
liberality, we must delight in each other, make others Conditions our own
rejoice together, mourn together, labour, and suffer together, always having
before our eyes our Commission and Community in the work, our Community as
members of the same body, so shall we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond
of peace, the Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us, as his own
people and will command a blessing upon us in all our ways, so that we shall see
much more of his wisdom power goodness and truth then formerly we have been
acquainted with, we shall find that the God of Israel is among us, when ten of
us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies, when he shall make us a
praise and glory, that men shall say of succeeding plantations: the lord make it
like that of New England: for we must Consider that we shall be as a City
upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us; so that if we shall deal
falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause him to
withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword through
the world, we shall open the mouths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God
and all professors for Gods sake; we shall shame the faces of many of gods
worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into Curses upon us till
we be consumed out of the good land whether we are going: And to shut up
this discourse with that exhortation of Moses that faithful servant of the Lord
in his last farewell to Israel Deut. 30. Beloved there is now set before us
life, and good, death and evil in that we are Commanded this day to love the
Lord our God, and to love one another to walk in his ways and to keep his
Commandments and his Ordinance, and his laws, and the Articles of our Covenant
with him that we may live and be multiplied, and that the Lord our God may bless
us in the land whether we go to possess it: But if our hearts shall turn away so
that we will not obey, but shall be seduced and worship other Gods our
pleasures, and profits, and serve them, it is propounded unto us this day, we
shall surely perish out of the good Land whether we pass over this vast Sea to
possess it; Therefore let us choose life, that we, and our Seed, may live; by
obeying his voice, and cleaving to him, for he is our life, and our prosperity."

Chaplain Roger Williams landed in New England in February 1631. He
emigrated from Britain in search of a place where he could have the freedom of
conscience to preach his Christian beliefs without fear of censure by
ecclesiastical authorities, especially Archbishop William Laud and the Church of
England. Williams had been an outspoken advocate for freedom of worship
and this had drawn the ire of Church officials in Britain. Upon reaching the new
world Williams was warmly greeted by John Winthrop and installed as a lay pastor
in Salem. Within three years, however, considerable friction had arisen
between Williams and the Puritan authorities.

The immediate cause of the conflict was Williams' insistence that the Boston
church renounce its ties to the Church of England. These ties were
required by the colony's charter, meaning Williams' stance endangered the
authority of the colony's Puritan rulers. Williams was willing to serve as
a lay minister, but he would not formally join the Boston church. Williams
also questioned the right of the King of England to have granted land to the
colony, land that Williams argued was not the king's to give. Williams
also opposed a "citizen's oath" of loyalty to the Puritan magistracy that was
required by the Massachusetts Bay authorities. Lastly, Williams preached that it
was wrong for authorities in Boston to enforce rules of worship in congregations
that were not in Boston. Here once again was Williams' tendency to call
for freedom of worship in opposition to established ecclesiastical authorities.
To be fair, the self-righteous Williams would also not tolerate the differences
of opinion held by those who opposed him.

Williams' case was brought before the General Court in Boston in October
1635. By this time John Winthrop was no longer the governor of the colony.
Winthrop had been a friend of Williams' and had tolerated his dissent out of
concern for that friendship. The new governor, Thomas Dudley, was not
sympathetic to Williams. The court ruled against Williams and he was to be
deported to England, where he would be at the mercy of Bishop Laud.
Therefore, Williams and his followers fled the Massachusetts Bay colony in the
dead of winter (January 1636) and headed to the Narragansett Bay, where they
settled the new colony of Rhode Island.

John Winthrop and his associates did not tolerate dissent from Puritan
religious orthodoxy. In 1638 Winthrop presided over the trial of Anne
Hutchinson, a well-spoken woman who held beliefs that diverged from those of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony's religious establishment. Hutchinson
particularly denied the Puritan credo that good works and faith together were
necessary for personal salvation, claiming that faith alone was enough.
For this belief and her insistence that divine inspiration could come directly
from God and not through scripture alone, Hutchinson was branded a heretic and
banished from the colony. Hutchinson and 60 of her followers left the
Massachusetts colony in March 1638 and settled on Aquidneck Island on the
Narragansett Bay. There they founded the city of Portsmouth.

For his part, Winthrop referred to Hutchinson after the trial as an "American
Jezebel" and as an agent of the devil.

"But for the natives in these parts, God hath
so pursued them, as for 300 miles space the greatest part of them are swept away
by smallpox which still continues among them. So as God hath thereby cleared our
title to this place, those who remain in these parts, being in all not 50,
have put themselves under our protection."

Note: Winthrop and his contemporaries were
inspired by a passage from Psalms 2:8whichstated:"Ask of me, and I shall give thee,
the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy
possession."

His [Calvin's] religion was demonism. If
ever man worshiped a false God, he did. The being described in his five
points is ... a demon of malignant spirit. It would be more pardonable to
believe in no God at all, than to blaspheme him by the atrocious attributes of
Calvin" See more on Jefferson's views on religion by
clicking here.

"Standing on the tiny deck of the Arabella in 1630 off the Massachusetts
coast, John Winthrop said, “We will be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all
people are upon us, so that if we deal falsely with our God in this work we have
undertaken and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be
made a story and a byword throughout the world.” Well, we have not dealt falsely
with our God, even if He is temporarily suspended from the classroom.

... We are indeed, and we are today, the last best hope of man on earth."

"I’ve spoken of the Shining City all my political life. … In my mind it was a
tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed,
and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with
free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city
walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and
the heart to get here. That’s how I saw it, and see it still.'"